Improving Diet Quality of Community-Dwelling Seniors Using a Community-Based Participatory Approach

This study implements a community co-designed educational intervention program to improve diet quality of community-dwelling seniors.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Diet Quality; Social Isolation in Older Adults; Nutrition Behavior
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Food Literacy Workshops

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 50
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Zoe Lim, PhD; Phone Number: +6583586255; Email: zoe.lim@geri.com.sg

Study Locations

• Singapore
  • Singapore
    • Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, 768024
      • Geriatric Education & Research Institute, Yishun Community Hospital
      • Contact: Zoe Lim, PhD; Phone Number: +6583586255; Email: zoe.lim@geri.com.sg

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 60 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria (Senior Participants):

• aged 60 years and above
• have at least one social risk factor as assessed by community-based providers, based on criteria defined by Singapore's Agency for Integrated Care
• able to understand and provide consent

Inclusion Criteria (Center Staff and Volunteers):

• aged 21 years and above,
• Active Ageing Centre (AAC) staff member, micro-jobber or volunteer
• able to understand and provide consent.

Exclusion Criteria (Senior Participants):

• living with helpers
• require diet with modified consistencies due to swallowing impairment
• moderate-severe dementia
• multiple or severe food allergies
• Stages 3, 4 or 5 Chronic kidney disease (CKD), or other medical conditions deemed unsuitable for participation
• concurrently participating in other nutrition and food literacy programmes, and
• unable to converse in English or Chinese

Exclusion Criteria (Center Staff and Volunteers):

• require diet with modified consistencies due to swallowing impairment
• moderate-severe dementia
• multiple or severe food allergies
• Stages 3, 4 or 5 Chronic kidney disease (CKD), or other medical conditions deemed unsuitable for participation
• concurrently participating in other nutrition and food literacy programmes, and
• unable to converse in English or Chinese

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Intervention; This is a single-arm trial and so all participants will be in the intervention arm.

Other: Food Literacy Workshops; The intervention is a food literacy workshop comprising 4 sessions held once every 2 weeks, up to 3 hours each. The main workshop themes are: 1) Practical ways to prepare simple and healthy meals; and 2) Basic nutrition knowledge related to the meals prepared, such as their nutrient components, links to chronic conditions and short/long-term health effects. These sessions include hands-on food preparation, tasting sessions, talks, group discussions and/or question and answer. Hands-on food preparation will focus on 'no-equipment' or 'light cooking' recipes. Food tasting involves everyday ingredients such as fruits, vegetables, proteins, nuts, seeds, spices, grains, and condiments. Group discussions will be facilitated by a study team member and will revolve around the specific themes of the workshop delivered on that day.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Global Diet Quality Score (GDQS)	A questionnaire that captures all foods consumed by the individual respondent during a 24-hour reference period and classifies foods into their corresponding GDQS food groups. The overall GDQS score sums up points across food groups, totaling a possible range of 0-49. Higher scores denote better diet quality.	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Knowledge and Literacy	Knowledge regarding health eating self-rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Higher scores denote better self-rated knowledge	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.
Behavior Change	Self-selected factors influencing food choice and frequency of snacking behavior.	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.
Adapted Nutrition Literacy Quiz	A quiz that assesses the participant's nutrition literacy.	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.
Adapted Food Literacy Scale	A scenario-based assessment that tests the participant's food literacy across 4 domains: Planning, Selection, Preparation, and Eating. Each correct answer will be given one score, totaling a possible range of 0-4.	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.
Brief Pittsburgh' Sleep Quality Index (B-PSQI)	Subjective sleep quality is rated from 0 (very bad) to 3 (very good). Sleep duration is rated from < 5 hours (severe sleep deprivation) to > 7 hours (standard healthy recommendations).	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.
Visual Analog Scales (VAS)	Three domains (feelings of Stomach discomfort, Energy, and Mood) self-rated on a 0-10 VAS. Higher scores denote less stomach discomfort, better energy or better mood.	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.
Body Mass Index (BMI)	Weight (kg) divided by the square of height (m), a measure of obesity and overweightness.	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.
Timed Up and Go (TUG)	Participants are timed as they rose from a chair, walked 3-metres to-and-fro, and sat back down on the chair. A measure of physical function and performance.	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) 3-Item Loneliness Scale	A 3-item questionnaire that assesses an individual's subjective feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Higher scores denote more loneliness. A score of 6-9 out of 9 indicated loneliness	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.
Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS-6)	A 6-item validated instrument designed to measures the size, closeness, and frequency of a person's social interactions with family and friends. Possible range of scores is from 0 to 30. A score of <12 out of 30 indicated poor social network score, or at risk of social isolation.	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.
EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L)	A health-related quality of life questionnaire based on five dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression) across five levels. An index score will be computed based on specific country's value set, where max score is 1.000 (perfect health) and min score could be a negative value (health state that is "worse than dead"). Based on the official Singapore EQ-5D-5L value set, the index scores range from 1.000 down to -0.851. Visual-analogue scale score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores denoting better self-rated health.	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.
Program Satisfaction	Overall satisfaction with intervention program rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Higher point denotes better satisfaction.	End of 8-week intervention.
Self-Efficacy of Health Messages Delivery	Confidence in delivering health and nutrition-related messages, rated on 5-point Likert scale.	Baseline to end of 8 weeks.
Adapted Trust in the Community Health Worker Scale	An adapted validated scale to measure participant's trust in the trainers. Each item is scored on a 4-point Likert scale. Scores are calculated as a mean of non-missing items, with possible range of score from 1.0 to 4.0. Higher scores denote higher trust.	End of 8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Geriatric Education and Research Institute
• Collaborators: NTUC Health Co-operative Limited

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): September 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 16, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 16, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): September 24, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 7, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 3, 2026
• Last Verified: September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: older adults; nutrition; social isolation; Diet Quality; food literacy; community-engaged
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Social Behavior; Social Isolation
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2025-0092

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

IPD Plan Description

Ethics approval limits data use to the original study team, thus consent does not cover data sharing.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No